The Line Drive

one

Mackenzie Brooks

We're two and a half weeks into the semester, and I can already tell that the library is going to be my second home. I'm working as a TA this semester, so I sit in the library for five hours a week answering people's questions. On top of that, I have a pretty intense course load. My third home will be the newspaper office, because I'm editor-in-chief this year.

I'm actually excited for this semester, because it's finally a lot of classes I care about. And although TAing does take time, I do really love helping people. I've been grading papers for half an hour now, and I've got all the answers memorized. I also love the newspaper, even though no one on campus reads it. 

"Mackenzie--" I'm pulled from my focus by Edwin. I could strangle him, because he'd finally stopped talking to me and I thought I was going to be able to make it through the papers in a timely manner.

He's sitting across from me at the library table. Edwin is tall, gangly, and fairly nerdy looking. He always dresses in dress pants and a button down shirt. He looks ready for a business meeting at any given moment. At first, it had been really cute, but now it was starting to get old. I was finding that I didn't like eating dinner with someone who looked like they could be asking me interview questions at any moment.

Edwin had started texting me over the summer, after a mutual acquaintance had thought we might make a good match. He'd seemed really nice the couple of times I'd met him at parties the previous year, so we'd started texting. Since we both lived by school, we'd gone on a couple of dates before school started. On the first day of school, he'd asked if he could refer to me as his girlfriend. 

It was a little fast for my taste, but I didn't know a polite way to tell him no, so I had agreed. I was already regretting the decision. Edwin was nice, but it was starting to feel like that was all he was. Most of our conversations were about Edwin's summer internship and his interviews that he had lined up for a job after college. 

"What?" My voice comes out a little sharper than I would like.

"Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?" Edwin says, totally ignoring that I'm snappy.

"Sure." I try to say patiently.

"I'll let you get to it. I know you've got to focus. Junior year is so hard." Somehow when Edwin says it, it just sounds condescending. He stands and leans over the table to awkwardly peck me on the lips.

I'm not exactly sure what Edwin's deal is, but he doesn't ever do passionate kisses like you see in the movies. Instead, it's these weird brief kisses. If he was my first boyfriend, it might have been a little less weird. But I'd dated someone for the second semester of freshman year and the first semester of sophomore year, and it had been a lot more passionate. 

Edwin also showed absolutely no interest in sex, which was starting to weird me out just a little bit. I didn't know if he didn't want to have sex with me, or if he was just trying to be respectful. I was getting the vibe that he was a virgin, which wasn't a problem for me, but I wasn't really sure how to initiate with him when he seemed to always keep me at an arm's distance whenever I was at his place. 

"Bye." I say after Edwin's kiss. He gives me a small smile that honestly looks more like a grimace. It makes me a little uncomfortable having him kiss me in the library like this. 

Edwin walks away, and someone standing in the corner of my vision makes me turn in my seat. A tall, muscular man is standing there, his arms crossed, staring at me. He's got dark brown hair,  perfect eyebrows, and soft brown eyes. Honestly, he's gorgeous. And since I've read, and edited, about five articles about him, I recognize him immediately.

Dane Sawyer. He's the best pitcher on our baseball team. He's hoping to go pro, although I'm not totally sure what the process is surrounding that, since I don't retain much of the information from the articles that I read about him. I know that he's also a junior, and that his girlfriend is hot as fuck. I've seen them together on campus. They're hard to miss because they are easily one of the most attractive couples that I've ever seen. 

I'm convinced that I must be hallucinating, because he makes eye contact and walks towards me. "That was awkward." Dane says to me. I'm speechless, because I can't believe he has the audacity to say that to me. "You could do a lot better." I stare at him, unsure if he's for real right now. For some reason, he thinks it's a good idea to keep talking. "I just think you should be kissed with a little bit more passion." 

My brain finally starts working again. "Excuse me?"

"I just think that you could do better in the boyfriend department." Who is this man to have opinions on my dating life? I've never understood the phrase 'seeing red' but I'm pretty sure that I'm close to actually experiencing it.

"That's rude."

"I know. I thought maybe I shouldn't say that, but I couldn't help myself." 

"You were right. Should've kept that one locked inside." I tell him, my voice icy. "Wouldn't expect much from a baseball douche though." 

"Well, I'm not going to take it back." Dane says, sounding a little annoyed as well. I'm tempted to get up and leave, but he takes a deep breath and changes the subject. "You're Mackenzie, right?"

"How do you know who I am?" I demand.

Dane sets my first newspaper issue down on the table and flips it open to the second page. My picture is there along with my letter from the editor. He points to my picture. "You're our new editor-in-chief."

"You actually read the paper?"

"I can read. Contrary to popular beliefs about baseball players."

"Huh."

"I mostly just read it to read about myself." Of course he does, the conceited asshole. "I think you did a good job with this issue." He adds.

"Thanks." I mutter. 

"I do have some ideas for future articles about the baseball team though." Because why wouldn't he?

"Do you?" I can't help my tone, which comes out more sarcastic than I would like. 

"Yes." He says simply, giving me a smile. "Here." He hands his phone to me, open to the new contact page.

"You want my number?"

"Yeah. So I can text you advice."

"On my job?" I'm convinced my voice has never been colder. Who does this guy think he is? First opinions on my dating life, then opinions on the paper?

"Well, it does sound bad when you put it like that." Dane actually does look a little guilty. "I just meant ideas on the baseball team. Events that we're doing, stuff like that. Sometimes I feel like the sports section doesn't get very much love." He's not wrong about that. Sports have never really been the thing of any of the editor-in-chiefs. 

I shock myself by deciding that his heart is probably in the right place, despite everything he'd just said. "Alright." I mutter and put my contact information in. Dane looks down at my textbooks.

"This is math." Dane says. I laugh.

"Good recognition."

"But you're editor in chief." He murmurs, as if trying to solve a mystery. 

"No journalism department. So they hire from the student body." I explain.

"Oh, that makes sense I guess." Dane takes his phone when I hand it back to him. "Sorry if we got off on the wrong foot." I'm taken aback by his apology. "It was nice to meet you, Mackenzie." 

With that he walks away. I'm left staring after him, admiring how his ass looks in jeans. I mentally slap myself. I have a boyfriend. A boyfriend who is not nearly as hot as Dane my brain instantly reminds me. But a boyfriend who isn't a blatant asshole. 

When my phone lights up, I glance at it immediately.

First article idea: how to make the editor in chief mad at you

I can't help but smile, and I save Dane as a contact in my phone, even though I fully expect him to never text me again.